November 2000 > The Gemstar eBook, an ebook reader in two versions
The Gemstar eBook was launched in October 2000 by Gemstar-TV Guide International, a company providing digital products and services for the media. Gemstar first bought Nuvomedia (author of the Rocket eBook, the first ebook reading device) and SoftBook Press (author of the SoftBook Reader, the second ebook reading device) in January 2000, before buying the French 00h00.com, a producer of digital books, in September 2000. Two Gemstar eBooks were available for sale in the U.S. in November 2000, with a later attempt in Germany to test the European market. The REB 1100 (successor of the Rocket eBook) had a black and white screen. The REB 1200 (successor of the SoftBook Reader) had a color screen. Both were produced by RCA (Thomson Multimedia). Later on, cheaper models were launched as GEB 1150 and 2150, produced by Gemstar instead of RCA. But the sales were still far below expectations. The company stopped selling ebook reading devices in June 2003, and ebooks the following month.
November 2000 > The original Bible of Gutenberg digitized, and available online
The digitized version of the original Bible of Gutenberg was available online in November 2000, on the website of the British Library. Gutenberg printed its Bible in 1454 or 1455 in Germany, perhaps printing 180 copies, with 48 copies still available in 2000, and three copies - two full ones and one partial one - at the British Library. The two full copies - a little different from each other — were digitized in March 2000 by Japanese experts from the Keio University (Tokyo) and NTT (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Communications). The images were then processed to offer a full digital version on the web a few months later, for the world to enjoy.
November 2000 > Frederick Forsyth, a British novelist, made a digital experiment
Following Stephen King's footsteps, Frederick Forsyth, the British master of thrillers, decided to make a digital experiment in partnership with Online Originals, an electronic publisher from London. In November 2000, Online Originals published online The Veteran, the story of a violent crime in London, and the first part of Quintet, a collection of five short stories (announced in the following order: The Veteran, The Miracle, The Citizen, The Art of the Matter, and Draco). Available in three electronic formats (PDF, Microsoft Reader and Glassbook Reader), the short story was sold for 3.99 pounds (6.60 euros) on the publisher's website and in several online bookstores in the United Kingdom (Alphabetstreet, BOL.com, WHSmith) and in the U.S. (Barnes & Noble, Contentville, Glassbook).
November 2000 > Arturo Pérez-Reverte, a Spanish novelist, made a digital experiment
Arturo Pérez-Reverte, a Spanish novelist, is famous for his best-seller collection of novels telling the adventurous life of Capitan Alatriste in the 17th century. The new title to be released in late 2000 was "El Oro del Rey" (The King's Gold). In November 2000, the author partnered with his publisher Alfaguara to publish "El Oro del Rey" exclusively in digital form for one month, on a specific site of the web portal Inicia, before the release of the print version in bookstores. The novel was available in PDF format for 2.90 euros, a much cheaper price than the 15.10 euros of the forthcoming print book. As a result of the experiment, the number of downloads was very good, but not the number of payments. A month after the online publishing of the novel, there are 332,000 downloads, but only 12,000 readers who paid for it.
November 2000 > Amazon.com opened its eBookStore
Amazon.com started its eBookStore in November 2000, following a partnership with Microsoft in August 2000 to sell digital books for the Microsoft Reader. The same month, Amazon.com also partnered with Adobe to offer digital books for the Acrobat Reader and the Glassbook Reader - Adobe had just bought Glassbook, its reader and its digital bookstore. In April 2001, Amazon.com partnered again with Adobe to include in its collection 2,000 copyrighted books for the Acrobat eBook Reader, mainly titles from major publishers, travel guides, and children books.